India coach Stephen Constantine announced his 22-member squad for India’s first-ever International fixture in China which is scheduled at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Suzhou City on October 13, 2018. Kick-off is at 17:05h IST.

As informed by coach Constantine earlier this evening, Balwant Singh had to be dropped from the squad because of some unavoidable circumstances. As his passport will expire in less than 6 months, he was denied the Chinese Visa.

The other players not making the flight to China are Vishal Kaith, Germanpreet Singh, Souvik Chakraborti, Bikash Jairu, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Manvir Singh.

Out of the 17 face-offs between these two sides so far, the Red Dragons have won on 12 occasions. The rest of the five matches ended in a stalemate.

During the media interaction at the JLN Stadium before departure on Tuesday night, Constantine mentioned that although the match was labelled as a ‘Friendly’, it is a serious affair for the entire team.

“Friendly or no-friendly, it’s the India National Team. It’s only a friendly game for the world but not us.”

Meanwhile, the two national teams are going to lock horns after a prolonged gap of 21 years. In the last meeting, which took place in the Nehru Cup in Kochi in 1997, China pipped India 2-1.